Πέμπτη, 21 Ιανουαρίου 2010

ARTEMIS By Gerard De Nerval


Μιας και "ταιριάζει" -έστω και κατά παράφραση- με το "πνεύμα" αυτού του μπλογκ, δημοσιεύω ένα ποίημα του Γάλλου ποιητή Gerard De Nerval (1808-1855), που είναι αφιερωμένο στη θεά Άρτεμη (αν και κάπως μακάβριο για τα γούστα μου). Στα γαλλικά είναι φυσικά το original, και ακολουθεί μετάφραση στα αγγλικά και στα ελληνικά. Προτιμώ το πρωτότυπο ή το αγγλικό, για να πω την αλήθεια, το ελληνικό με ξενερώνει (ειδικά η αναφορά στα φέρετρα και στις δενδρομολόχες... χοχο)




ARTEMIS By Gerard De Nerval

La Treizième revient... C’est encor la première ;
Et c’est toujours la seule, — ou c’est le seul moment ;
Car es-tu reine, ô toi ! la première ou dernière ?
Es-tu roi, toi le seul ou le dernier amant ?...

Aimez qui vous aima du berceau dans la bière ;
Celle que j’aimai seul m’aime encor tendrement :
C’est la mort — ou la morte... Ô délice ! ô tourment !
La rose qu’elle tient, c’est la Rose trémière.

Sainte napolitaine aux mains pleines de feux,
Rose au coeur violet, fleur de sainte Gudule :
As-tu trouvé ta croix dans le désert des cieux ?

Roses blanches, tombez ! vous insultez nos dieux,
Tombez, fantômes blancs, de votre ciel qui brûle :
— La sainte de l’abîme est plus sainte à mes yeux !


ARTEMIS (In english)

The Thirteenth is back ... She's still the first,
and is still the only - or is it the one time:
for thou art queen, thou! the first or the last?
Are you king, you the sole or last lover?

... Love the one who loved you in the cradle of the coffin
The one I loved still loves me dearly:
It is death - or the dead one... O delight! O torture!
The rose that she holds is the Hollyhock.

The Neapolitan Saint in hands full of fire,
Rose with a purple heart, flower of St. Gudule*:
Have you found your cross in the desert of the skies?

White Roses, fall! you insult our gods,
Fall, white ghostw from the sky that is burning:
- The Saint of the abyss is more sacred to me!


ΑΡΤΕΜΙΣ
(ΚΑΙ ΣΤΑ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ...)

Η δέκατη τρίτη γύρισε ... Είναι ακόμα η πρώτη,
και εξακολουθεί να είναι η μόνη - ή μήπως είναι η μόνη φορά:
γιατι εσυ βασιλεύεις ω εσύ! η πρώτη ή η τελευταία;
Είσαι συ βασιλιάς, είσαι o μόνoς ή ο τελευταίος εραστής;

... αγαπήστε εκείνον που σας αγαπησε στο λίκνο του φερέτρου
εκείνη που αγαπούσα μόνο εμένα αγάπησε αν και τρυφερά:
Είναι ο θάνατος - ή η νεκρή... Ω απόλαυση! Ω βασανιστήρια!
Το ρόδο που κρατά είναι της δενδρομολόχας.

Η Ναπολιτάνικη Αγία σε χέρια γεμάτα φωτιά,
Τριαντάφυλλο με την πορφυρή καρδιά, λουλούδι της Αγίας Gudule*:
Έχεις βρεi το σταυρό σου στην ερημιά του ουρανού;

Λευκά τριαντάφυλλα, πέστε! προσβάλετε τους θεούς μας
πέστε, λευκά φαντάσματα, από τον ουρανού σας που καίγεται:
- Ο Άγιος της αβύσσου είναι πιο ιερός στα μάτια μου!




ΝΟΤΕ:
*Saint Gudule was the niece of St. Gertrude of Nivelles, and she died in 712.
The painting is by SEBASTIANO RICCI called "Diana and Callisto" [1712-6]
Thanks to Sophie for finding the Diamanda Gallas song "Artemis" on youtube!

Κυριακή, 17 Ιανουαρίου 2010

Therapy? live in Thessaloniki, @ Block 33


When "Nirvana" were still alive and kicking, and you could actually watch the video clip of "Smells like teen spirit" every time you turned on MTV on a daily (not to mention hourly) basis, a band from Northern Ireland suddenly caught my attention. I can't remember the exact date, but it was somewhere back in my highschool days in 1993 that I first heard of the Irish rock band "Therapy?" because of their ShortSharpshock EP and the single "Screamager".
So, I watched this:



and then OFCOURSE I went out and bought their previous LP "Nurse" (being a silly avid fan of everything Irish even back then). Soon I had the single "trigger inside" in my hands, pressed in yellow vinyl, that still stands small but proud in our little home collection. I gave it out to my little brother as a birthday present, making fun of the fact that he was a fan of ARIS FC (yellow is one of their colours).



Now, more than 15 years later, the band is visiting our hometown, Thessaloniki, for a live gig at "Block 33" on Friday 22/1/2010. Having missed them playing live while I was living in Dublin (2001-2002) the first thing I did when I found out they are coming to perform live in our city, was to go get me and my little brother a ticket :) Yeah! So, I am eagerly waiting for this Friday's gig.


This year is a special year for "Therapy?". They celebrate 20 years of being a band together, even though the original line-up has changed quite a bit. For a while the band did not even have a drummer, when one of the founding members, drummer Fyfe Ewing decided in 1996 that he no longer wanted to be with the band, citing mental health reasons - or in plain english "if I stay I'll go crazy".


After many changes in the line-up (notably turned into a four-piece band with the permanent addition of guest cellist Martin McCarrick) and many many gigs around the globe, often as a supporting band for many rock headliners, including Ozzy Osbourne, Henry Rollins, Helmet, Jesus Lizard and the Nine Inch Nails ...



...co-founder Andy Cairns finally teamed up in 2004 with Michael McKeegan (bass) and Neil Cooper (drums) to form the trio as it exists today - being again a three-piece for the first time since 1995.


Their current album,which has received great reviews, is called "Crooked timber (2009)"


and the title is inspired by one of Immanuel Kant's quotes (notice, notice!):


"From the crooked timber of humanity, a straight board cannot be hewn".






Hot Press (4/5) wrote: “… one of the most exhilarating records in their two decade career.”
For those of you who have never heard of Hot Press, it's the leading Irish music magazine for the past 30 years.





Thumbs up for Therapy? for knowing and acting accordingly:
"As well as doing your Manchesters and Londons and your Dublins and Glasgows, we’d also play these places that were slightly out of the way… and the kids are always really glad that someone’s made an effort to come to their town …"




THERAPY? UPDATE:

These are some of the songs we listened to and jumped with during the concert. They started with "isolation" and ended up with "nowhere". The guys were great, Andy kept thanking the audience in Greek and at some point he said that in the hotel they were staying, the auditions for "Greek IdoL" take place ... "what a croak of shit!" he remarked and the audience burst laughing when he pointed out "I'd rather be ugly than beautiful cause it lasts longer". Mike thanked the audience and said that the place had great organization and the people they met in Thessaloniki were some of the nicest and "this means a lot to us". The guys had a shot each of Jagermeister on stage before the encore, and they surely needed it as they were on stage for two hours total. When they finished, the place was filled with happy people, as you'd expect, this being the first time the band actually performed in town.

THERAPY? part of the setlist

isolation
stories
teethgrinder
rain hits concrete
crooked timber
potato junkie
die laughing
die like a motherfucker
screamager
nowhere

(sorry this setlist is not complete)

Δευτέρα, 04 Ιανουαρίου 2010

The new arrivals of 2010: Buck Angel live in Athens!

Buck Angel will be performing live in the 4th Porn Film Festival - Berlin in Athens, hosted in Gagarin 205 during 15-16 January 2010.

This body is a work of art


Artemis says: "To be TransGender in this day and age is to personify
an ancient war: the battlefield of the sexes, where being human is no loger defined by a body or a social role; it is the utimate metamorphosis, a testament to fluidity and change, a journey for those who dare to venture into the great unknown"



Artemis says: "Buck Angel reminds us of the androgynous nature of eros and offers a unique insight into the strains
of the formation of identity- any identity."

Buck Angel was born a biological female in 1969 and conquered a lifetime of adversity to reach his transformation as a man. From early childhood, there was no doubt Buck Angel was born to the wrong body. Buck roughhoused with the toughest bullies and was accepted as a boy by friends and family. As a young adult, Angel’s lifestyle reflected that of an average American guy. Buck enjoyed sharing a cold one with the guys, working on cars and dating women, but never identified as a lesbian. Buck Angel has never felt female, nor has he ever been perceived as such. Simply put, Buck Angel is a man with a genetic female history.

In the 1980s, Buck Angel, got his first break in the Entertainment world as a high-fashion female model, under contract with two of world's most prestigious modeling agencies, Elite Model Management and Z in London. Not surprisingly, Buck Angel pushed the envelope in the high-fashion world, as well. His look as a professional female model was progressive, beautiful and almost androgynous, which opened the doors for some of today’s most successful tomboy models. Many girls dream of becoming professional models, but modeling as a female was painfully difficult for Buck.




Life for Buck Angel finally took a turn for the better when he came across a documentary about a female-to-male transsexual. The film changed the course of his life forever. Not long after, Buck began taking the necessary hormones and underwent breast-removal surgery. His transformation as a man has lead to a life of peace and self-acceptance. This was a dream come true and now he is the man he has always wanted to be. For the first time in his life, Buck Angel, was able to live in his own skin.

After gender reassignment, Angel began working in the Adult-Industry as a Fetish filmmaker and website creator for the male-to-female (MTF) on-line market. After a few years, he came to realize that there were no FTM Adult-Entertainment sites on-line. In his typical pioneering fashion, Buck Angel, created the first FTM Adult website and became the first FTM Porn Star. Buck Angel has successfully cornered the FTM Adult-Entertainment market.




In 2003, Buck Angel made history as the Adult Industry’s first female-to-male Porn Star and Adult-film producer. In 2004, Buck Angel signed an unprecedented 12-Picture deal with one of the Adult Industry's largest studios. Since then, his career has skyrocketed from its humble beginnings to today’s mainstream media. In 2007 Buck made history again as the first transsexual man to ever win the prestigious award from AVN (Adult Video News) Transsexual Performer of the Year (considered the Oscars of the adult industry) for his groundbreaking work in the adult entertainment industry. As the pioneer of an entirely new genre: female-to-male (FTM) porn.

Buck has received international recognition and continues to be a huge box office hit in numerous markets. His live performances at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival (Scotland), Torture Garden (London), The Box (New York City), Goodhandy's (Toronto) and countless other venues worldwide, have attracted thousands of adoring fans and the respect of critics everywhere.




Buck has been featured by nearly every imaginable international media outlet in television, radio, web, and print. He has appeared on Playboy TV, The Women's Entertainment Network, the Howard Stern Show, Much Music, and others. He's been written about in The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Time Out Israel, London, and New York, and other publications around the world, as well as Armistead Maupin's book Michael Tolliver Lives.

He was flown to London, where British artist Marc Quinn created a life-size sculpture of Buck Angel, that will be included in the sculptor's upcoming global tour. As an icon of popular culture, Buck Angel's message of empowerment through self-acceptance and being sexually comfortable in your own skin has struck a passionate chord with folks all over the world. Buck is not only inspiring people to think outside the box, he is re-defining gender and educating an entire generation on the fluidity of sexuality and identity politics.


Artemis says: "This body was constructed,
it was made out of flesh.

It was made out of its own flesh and its own blood.
This body is a construction.
All art is a construction;
a careful insight into the essentials
of life, carved with perseverence and love.
And like all works of art, this body will remain
long after its own desintegration. "



Buck Angel has made history in the Entertainment world. Whether in Adult Industry or commercial mediums, Angel’s efforts have opened the door for many like him. Dialogue and education about the Transgender community is more prevalent than ever. It is not surprising that universities, colleges, bookstores, and other educational institutions have been approaching Buck Angel to speak and deliver workshops. The adventures of Buck Angel have only just begun.



On a last note...
The ideal soundtrack and the ultimate hymn
for those who dared to cross over to the other side
FTM or MTF... does it really matter?
'angry inch'
in
"Hedwig and the Angry Inch"


Πέμπτη, 31 Δεκεμβρίου 2009

The farewells of 2009: the L word

This year has brought along with much sorrow and plight, the end of "the L word". The groundbreaking series has been with us for 6 seasons, and with the initial surprise and praise for the depiction of days in the life of the Los Angeles lesbian community, later came all the unnecessary drama and the sluggish plot of seasons 4 and 5. However, the L word has introduced a couple of dozens of memorable characters, unforgettable performances, and along with them, celebrated love scenes that made a lot of girls sigh.


Who can forget Bette and Candace's illegitimate affair, starting off at the stairs of a respectable hotel? Cherie and Shane getting it on by the pool? Ivan in full drag, moustache and all, dancing for Kit? Thus, in no particular order, whatsoever, here are (most of) the faces that kept us company for 6 straight long years, (ok wrong term - gay long years), since 2004, the faces that forever changed the countenance of television!

Mia Kirshner as Jenny


Sarah Sachi as Carmen


Rose Rollins as Tasha


Rosanna Arquette as Cherie


Rachel Shelley as Helena


Pam Grier as Kit


Kristanna Loken as Paige


Laurel Holloman as Tina


Lauren Lee Smith as Lara


Leisha Hailey as Alice


Marlee Matlin as Jodi


Jennifer Beals as Bette


Karina Lombard as Marina


Kate French as Niki


Katherine Moennig as Shane


Kelly Lynch as Ivan


Daniela Sea as Max


Erin Daniels as Dana


Ganina Javankar as Papi


Ion Overman as Candace


Jane Lynch as Joyce


Alexandra Hedison as Dylan


Clementine Ford as Molly


Lucia Rijker as Dusty